M1330 Windows 2008 Server x64

Hello, I just installer Windows 2008 Server Enterprise Edition on my laptop so I wanted to post to share my experience. This is not a detailed tutorial, its more of a general how to and I will not detail every step.

Configuration:
M1330 Core Duo T7300 (2Ghz with 4Mb)
2 Gb ram
120 5400 rpm hd
LED Screen with VGA WebCam
NO fingerprint
Japanese Keyboard

I activated virtualization on BIOS and ACHI for the hd. The install was trouble less and straightforward, not a single trouble. Upon booting into windows the first time, wifi, bluetooth, video drivers, card reader and a couple more stuff were not working, but windows was responsive and working. I downloaded all the drivers directly from Dell.ca, I used the drivers for vista x64.

After installing the drivers everything was working but the bluetooth, in the Device Manager I have 3 unknow devices, despite the fact that i can see the bluetooth and everything seems working, the 3 unknow devices are part of the bluetooth, my guess is that bluetooth is partially installed and not fully working. Also I tryed several times to configure my Japanese keyboard, but the Kanji input is not working and several keys are not well placed. I think is because of the Keyboard drivers and asian support under windows 2008, I will keep digging as I truly need Japanese support. The last thing I found not working is Hyper-V, the new virtualization engine, the engine gives me an error and says one of his components could not be initialized in a timely fashion... go figure, I will try to put this one working.

Despite the bluetooth, hyper-V and some small keyboard troubles everything is working, sound, video, webcam, wifi, network, I have tested mostly everything.

Next step to have a nice windows 2008 server :
using-windows-server-2008-as-a-super-desktop-os

One small hicup, I was forced to go to the regedit and change these keys to make avalon work properly :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>Current Version>DWM
Composition > 1
CompositionPolicy > 2

after setting 1 and 2 as values of these keys, Avalon was working with full 3d windows, transparencies, etc. Also you need to activate themes service and experience (check the url up for detailed steps)

Lastly, I installed Visual Studio 2008 (witch works in x64) adobe photoshop, messenger, skype, firefox 3 with rikaichan plugin and a couple other small programs I use.

I did use Vista x86 for 6 months and XP x86 for 1 month in this laptop, I must say that windows 2008 x64 is way more responsive and quick than Vista x86, I can easily feel an upgrade, as for the looks I feel as if I'm using Vista, but faster, also the Server Manager console is a way friendlier way of configuring your computer than the mess they have done with Vista.

As for the small troubles I had, well I don't use bluetooth, but I'm currently working on arranging the keyboard (I expect that if you have an american keyb, you will not have this trouble, as it is truly a matter of asian languages support under windows 2008) and lastly hyper-V, which in my line of work would be a very usefull tool, hence I will work onto making it work. When I will make them work and arrange those troubles I will come here and complete this guide.

Have fun

Edit:
There is a bug with Hyper-V, if you change the locale or install keyboards other than En-us one then Hyper-V will refuse to work. To solve this trouble, simply unistall all keyboards except US one, set all locales to English(USA) and then unistall hyper-V and install this update instead, after installing Hyper-V you can change the locales and keyb without troubles.
Hyper-V update
here for more info:
http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/en-US/winserverhyperv/thread/b1bff139-2302-4c10-980e-9e8ab6ccd8e4

For the Japanese Keyb, simply install the driver for Japanese(106-109 + ebiisu) not the Japanese(106-109) and then you should have Japanese support properly.

Just bluetooth to go.

 

Welcome to the Windows Server 2008 X64 on XPS laptops.
I have been running the Windows Server 2008 X64 (std.) on my M1330, everything works fine - except the Quickset. I d/l the Quickset (R163853) from the Dell website (Vista X64 section) and installed fine. Whenever I run it, i got the error "quickset has stopped working". Tried (Quickset R182249) and got the same result.

Do you have this problem?

Regarding to the Bluetooth, the one from the Dell website didn't work. Instead, I d/l the setpoint 4.40 X64 (with BT version) from Logitech, and that worked fine.

 

Yes the quickset doesn't work, but I'm not crying over it.

I got this url for the bluetooth
http://www.sharepoint-tips.com/2008/02/installing-bluetooth-stack-in-windows.html

I'm trying it currently, if not I will try yours. As for the Japanese keyb is working wonderfull and hyper-v well I'm installing Windows XP into a virtual machine currently. Overall the system is very responsive and I'm amazed how much better than vista x86 it is.

edit:
forget the link, it's not a true solution, as for setpoint, it seems to be mouse and keyb drivers only, so they don't truly solve the bluetooth stack trouble don't it ?? as far as I can read, the current situation makes it imposible to connect more than 1 bluetooth device, it seems we will wait for a true patch on the matter.

 

storm99, I have been using my M1330 with windows 2008 for a week now, the bluetooth is still not working properly, but other than that it seems to be working good, also I'm very happy with the speed and the system is very responsive, even if I installed Visual studio, SQL, photoshop, office 2007 and many other soft.... but ...

there is a but... because of installing hyper-v, I lost hybernate and sleep functions, furthermore the intel speedstep doesn't seem to work, the consequence is that the cpu seems to be always running on maximum speed and it never stops so that it becomes truly truly hot (before it always stayed kind of cold) since 2008 many parts of the laptop, like the palmrest seem to burn after a while of usage and I can't hybernate, suspend nor sleep it Have you done anything about this ?

On a last note, the drivers for my PRS-500 from sony doesn't work, but is more of a matter of x86 drivers not working on x64 and not a windows 2008 issue.

 

duh, stupid windows xp user...

I found under windows 2008 power schemes the cpu throthling, I was running under DELL recomended schema which sets the cpu throling to 100%, becoming very hot, I just changed it and the laptop is already becoming colder.

 

Thanks guys - it's good to know from ppl who have done it
I'll be testing 2008 on my laptop soon. Right after backing up 320G of hdd , just in case.

 

What wireless cards are you guys using? I am running the Dell 1550 N spec and am unable to get wireless to work with 2008 server. I have everything else going.

If I am unable to get this one going, I am willing to install a different card to get the OS, but I want to be sure I am getting a card that will work. Do you guys have Intel? Which?